


(She's Not) Bulletproof

by thecarlonethatalsowrites



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Demonic Possession, F/F, Gen, Graphic Description, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, some of the injuries they get are described pretty brutally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-03 05:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12741738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecarlonethatalsowrites/pseuds/thecarlonethatalsowrites
Summary: "Waverly was standing in the middle of the road, missing her jacket and shoes. Her hair was loose from its bun and she was covered in dirt, but she was in one piece and didn’t appear to be hurt from what Nicole could see.“Look at her eyes,” Wynonna breathed. They were pure black and leaking dark sludge. Furthermore, her face was twisted into the most un-Waverly like expression. Nicole changed her mind. That thing looked like Waverly, but it most definitely wasn’t."Or Waverly is the big bad of season 2





	1. Taken

**December 22; 9:06**

“You ready?” Waverly asked, her breath condensing in the frigid air as she spoke.

“Sweetheart,” Wynonna smirked, “I’m ready for anything.” Almost anything. The smirk dropped from her face when Waverly’s expression suddenly turned cold and she drew her gun, pointing it directly at her and Doc. Wynonna flinched as it went off, her eyes slamming shut as she waited for the excruciating pain. 

But the pain never happened. Instead, she heard a thud in the snow behind her. She opened her eyes and barely took in Waverly’s smoking gun before spinning around to see what she shot.

A demon lay bleeding out in the snow behind her. It was human-shaped, except for the huge head that housed a hellish maw of teeth and gore. Waverly’s aim was true, and it twitched once before letting out its last breath.

“Nice shot,” Wynonna said, exhaling heavily. She looked over her shoulder as Waverly walked up to her.

“Don’t be so sure it’s dead,” Doc warned. “It wasn’t put down with Peacemaker. It could be trying to catch us off our guard.” He cautiously stretched out a foot, toeing the monster well away from its mouth just in case it was faking. It didn’t move an inch, and Doc stomped on it a little harder. “I take it back. Well done, Waverly.”

“Are you guys okay?” Waverly asked.

“My nightmares are now going to have more substance than Bobo’s stupid coat, but yeah. Thanks, sis.” Wynonna leaned into Waverly slightly before standing back upright.

“What the hell do we do with it?” Doc crouched down to get a better look at it while he spoke.

“Use it to get Dolls back.”

**December 22; 15:28**

“Oh, Nicole you beautiful flat foot. Get us out of here!” Wynonna pounded on the driver's side window of Nicole’s cruiser, making Nicole jump. Behind her, Doc and Eliza half carried Dolls, who looked much worse for wear and barely conscious, while a nervous looking guy in a lab coat kept pressing the back of his hand to Dolls’ forehead. Nicole was pretty sure they were a big part of the reason behind the alarms going off in the Black Badge safehouse.

“Where’s Waverly?” Nicole unlocked the doors and got out of the car to help Eliza and  Doc get Dolls into the backseat. “And who’s this guy?” She glared at Labcoat.

“An annoying lab junkie who knows his shit so we have to take him with us,” Wynonna grumbled. “Also we might have kidnapped him. Get in there, nerdling!” 

“T-there’s only three seats,” he stuttered.

“Then grab a lap.” Wynonna shoved him onto Doc then slammed the door behind him. She moved to get in the front seat, but Nicole grabbed her by the arm to stop her.

“Where’s Waverly?” She asked again, this time through gritted teeth. Wynonna finally met her gaze, and the anguish in her eyes almost made Nicole take a step back. 

But before she could answer a roar that shook the very ground they stood upon echoed from the building above them. Dust fell from the ceiling, and Nicole gulped at the thought of being crushed by a ton of concrete and whatever hell Black Badge was storing in there.

“Just get in the car and drive. I’ll explain while we get the hell out of here.” Wynonna tore her arm out of Nicole’s grip and marched to the passenger’s side. When she saw Nicole hesitate, she spoke to her over the car. “I don’t think she’s coming.”

Her words were enough to shock Nicole into action. In a daze she opened the door and started the car, driving off almost before she shut the door and well before she put her seatbelt on. On second thought, she really should buckle up.

“Ok, so Plan A turned into Plan B when Eliza, Doc and I got trapped, but somewhere along the way Waverly had to turn to Plan C…” Wynonna turned in her seat to look at Labcoat for an explanation. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt but gripped the emergency handle firmly in one hand and the center console in the other.

“I don’t know what happened. One minute we were being almost eaten by a Hungarian soul eater, the next not-British chick was controlling it and all the other nasties in the lab,” he said. “Her eyes turned black and her voice went weird and they just started listening to her. She set them loose and then all hell came crashing down. I think I peed myself.”

“Kindly remember that you are sitting on another person before sharing such intimate information,” Doc said uncomfortably. 

“I knew she seemed off, but I didn’t think it was something like this.” Nicole thought guiltily back to their kiss when Waverly didn’t taste quite right. Back to the barn, when she turned around to find Waverly holding an ax over her head. The signs were all there that something wasn’t right, why couldn’t she see it?

“Yeah, hindsight's twenty twenty,” Wynonna said. “There were signs I missed too.” Her voice was strained, and Nicole had some idea why. If it hurt her this bad to leave Waverly behind, she couldn’t imagine how horrible it was for Wynonna to leave her sister.

“Whatever “it” is, it’s way worse than even that time in Albuquerque when...well, let’s just say there were a  _ lot  _ of bodily fluids involved. And not just blood,” Labcoat said. Everyone in the car groaned. Eliza went so far as to punch him in the arm.

“Wynonna, do we really need to bring this—ah!” His comment ended in exclamation, as Nicole had to jerk the car sharply to the side in order to avoid a chunk of falling roof. Labcoat went sprawling across the bench seat, arms flailing. Dolls growled in a way that didn’t sound at all human when he hit him in the face. Eliza pulled him upright just in time—even though Dolls didn’t quite seem up to dismembering anyone there was always the chance that he would.

“Watch it, Officer,” Eliza growled.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Nicole wrenched the wheel again to avoid more debris while stepping on the gas as hard as she dared, “there’s kind of a building coming down on top of us.”

“Yeah, what the hell is going on up there?” Wynonna asked crossly. 

“I may have left behind a few sticks of dynamite,” Doc said. “Some of it may have gone boom.”

“And we left Waverly behind in that?” Wynonna glared at him.

“Whatever your friend is, she won’t be stopped by something like a building collapsing on her,” Labcoat said. “The way she dealt with Lucado…”

“Hang on!” Nicole interrupted, drifting the car around a corner in a way it was not designed to do if the way the wheels protested was any indication. At this point, it took almost all her concentration to not get them killed. Inside of the car, it sounded like hail was crashing down on them, but it was really just small pieces of the ceiling bouncing off the roof. Nicole was totally going to have to pay for a new paint job. They would be dead if another larger piece like the one she swerved around fell on top of them. Luckily, after the drift, there was a straight shot to the exit, and Nicole slammed her foot down on the accelerator. 

The backseat was total chaos, as Dolls didn’t have the energy to hold himself upright and Labcoat wasn’t actually in a seat. Eliza was squashed in the middle, and she pushed and shoved at anybody who got too close to her while Doc looked like he was in his own personal hell.

“I’m so glad I’m not back there,” Wynonna said. Nicole was about to respond, but they finally shot out of the car garage and after spending so long in its gloom, the light of day and it’s snowy reflection nearly blinded Nicole. She threw up a hand to lower the visor, blocking out the worst of the sun.

A loud, final rumble behind them heralded the total collapse of the safehouse. All Nicole could see in the rearview mirror was a massive cloud of dust. She couldn’t see so much as a silhouette of what used to be the building, and it made tears spring to her eyes.

“Nicole!” Wynonna hit her in the shoulder repeatedly. Nicole turned her eyes back to the road and gasped when she saw what moved Wynonna into action. Her foot fell from the pedals and the car started to coast as they approached the figure blocking the road.

Waverly was standing in the middle of the road, missing her jacket and shoes. Her hair was loose from its bun and she was covered in dirt, but she was in one piece and didn’t appear to be hurt from what Nicole could see. 

“Look at her eyes,” Wynonna breathed. They were pure black and leaking dark sludge. Furthermore, her face was twisted into the most un-Waverly like expression. Nicole changed her mind. That thing looked like Waverly, but it most definitely wasn’t.

“I don’t believe Waverly is present at the moment,” Doc echoed her thoughts.

“Get us out of here,” Eliza said, leaning forward and hooking her fingers through the divider that separated the front seat from the back.

“How? She—it took out a building in minutes. I know for sure that Doc’s dynamite didn’t do all that damage. What do you think would happen to us in a car?” Nicole asked.

“We don’t know that Waverly is completely gone. If she’s still in there, she might be able to keep that thing from obliterating us. And if she can’t, we don’t know that’s what it wants in the first place,” Eliza said. “Drive around her and see what happens. It’s the only thing we can do unless you want to idle here until we freeze to death.” 

Nicole looked over to Wynonna to see if she seconded the plan. Wynonna shrugged in a  _ what the hell _ kind of way, so Nicole eased the cruiser forward, driving as far to the side as she could. The Waverly shaped thing didn’t move a muscle, even as they drove right past it and everyone in the car stared at it. Nicole could have sworn she saw a flash of an expression that was Waverly—the real Waverly—but it was gone just as fast as it came so she couldn’t be sure.

Either way, it didn’t do anything to stop them as they inched past it. Nicole drove a slowly as she could, hoping that any second Waverly would snap out of it and they would be able to bring her with them. But she didn’t, and though they passed her with no incident Nicole couldn’t help but think  _ something  _ was about to happen.

“Drive,” Wynonna croaked. Nicole jumped and checked the mirror. Waverly was the size of a doll in it. Nicole didn’t even notice she had driven so far already. “Just drive away.” 

Her knuckles whitened as she squeezed the life out of the steering wheel, and the only reason she didn’t sock Wynonna in the mouth was that she was hurting just as badly as Nicole was. Slowly, she accelerated until they were speeding away and the wreckage of Black Badge was a distant memory.

**December 22; 23:45**

“Well, Nicole I must say you are a hell of a getaway driver,” Wynonna lifted the bottle of whiskey she clutched in her hand. “Thanks to you we aren’t dead. You’re never allowed to let anyone else drive, ever.” Nicole smiled tensely. 

They might not have been dead, but things weren’t good. Dolls was chained up in the barn with Eliza watching him. He had barely enough control to sit still while they restrained him. Jeremy, the Black Badge scientist they kidnapped, was tied to a chair at the police station until they figured out if he could be trusted while Doc scoured the place for any scrap of medicine left for Dolls. And there was still no sign from Waverly. Nicole was not about to leave Wynonna alone at the homestead. And this was why.

“This drink is for you.” Wynonna brought the bottle to her lips, but before she could take a swig that would likely lead to her finishing the rest of the bottle Nicole placed her hand over Wynonna’s.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” she said quietly. Wynonna glared but didn’t put up a fight as Nicole loosened her grip.

“Listen, in the past twenty-four hours I had to shoot my own sister, watch my...friend devolve in front of my eyes, and leave my other sister to whatever hell that demon has in store for her.” She stared blankly at the table. “I think I deserve a drink.”

“Do you really want one though?” Nicole asked.

“Does it make me an alcoholic if I say yes?” Wynonna finally lifted her gaze. Her eyes were glazed with unshed tears.

“Probably.” Nicole didn’t waste words trying to erase facts Wynonna already knew. Wynonna swallowed hard and sniffled, and the first of her tears started to fall. “Come here.” She pulled her closer, not sure exactly what she was trying to do. 

Wynonna fell off her chair, landing on her knees on the floor as her she started to cry in earnest. She folded into Nicole’s lap like a bad poker hand, and her entire body shook with sobs. Nicole held her as tightly as she could, not worrying about hurting her. Wynonna was in too much pain to feel a too tight embrace.

“You’re Wynonna freaking Earp, and if anyone can get Waverly back, it’s you,” Nicole said, blinking away tears of her own. “You’re strong and stubborn, and totally unstoppable, and I wouldn’t go up against you on one of your off days. We’re going to get Dolls’ medicine, and then storm any and every castle we need to save Waverly too.” Her words brought on a fresh wave of sobs, but Nicole was determined not to let Wynonna fall apart alone. “We’re doing this together.”

Nicole lost track of how long she and Wynonna cried in the kitchen for, but it was long enough that Wynonna could barely move when she finally ran dry. Nicole helped her to her bed still clothed before starting off to the couch herself. But before she could, Wynonna caught her by the sleeve.

“You’re a fuckin’ bumper sticker, y’know that?” She slurred. Nicole smiled tightly. With gentle hands, she folded Wynonna’s back into her. “Don’t change, ‘k?”

“Alright, Wynonna. I promise.”

**December 22; 21:26**

Pain. So much pain.

Dark. Swirling, endless dark.

It was kept in the dark so long that it became part of it. All it craved was agony and chaos. To bring that darkness upon the entire world. Starting with her.

Waverly thought she might have been screaming. There was just so much darkness. It was like swimming through ink that flooded through her nose, her mouth, her ears, incinerating her inside and out. Wherever it touched burned. How could she keep from screaming at that?

She was barely able to keep it from trying to destroy the people she loved. Even that hurt so much. Every inch of her very being fought just to keep it in place while it tried to burn away everything good she ever knew. Until all she knew was hurt, and that if she stopped fighting there would be nothing left of the world, let alone her.

But damn, it fought hard. The battle over control of her physical body raged, all while she was frozen in place. Inside she was doing everything she could to counter it, to latch on and not let go upon pain of death, but at this point death was sounding like a pretty good option. 

Along with anguish, it fought with words. Whispered promises of a world kneeling at their feet. Of no more wars, hunger, or revenants. They could burn down the world and sculpt the ashes into a new order, gleaming and perfect. It offered Wynonna, Nicole, Doc, Dolls on a silver platter. Safety for them all. A place at their side while they ruled. 

That was harder to resist. The promise of the end of suffering and new hope beginning sounded like everything she could dream of. But lately dreams hadn’t exactly worked out the way they should have, and she wasn’t about to willingly walk into another one that would shatter the moment she got close. They would come for her. They would save her. She couldn’t remember who, but she knew they were coming.

She only hoped she could remember her own name by the time they did.


	2. Missing

**January 13; 20:47**

Nicole grunted in pain as something slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Snow filled her nose and she choked, and didn’t have time to catch her breath before a cord looped around her throat and yanked so hard it lifted her clear out of the snow. She clawed at her neck, trying to find any purchase to loosen its grip and get air into her lungs, but her vision was starting to darken and her gloves were too bulky .

“Hey asshole! The only one that gets to wring her neck when she’s being dumb is me!” Wynonna’s voice broke through her fog of oxygen deprivation, and a gunshot later the pressure from the garrote vanished. Nicole fell forward, choking in her need for air, and rolled onto her side. She felt the heat of hellfire behind her, and then Wynonna appeared in her line of sight

“Better luck  _ necks _ time, revenant.” Despite her pun she looked sincerely concerned. She crouched down and placed a hand on Nicole’s shoulder. “It’s ok, you’re good. Breathe. Nice and easy now. There you go.” Slowly her coughs and gasps faded, and she rolled onto her back when they did. She was glad she cut her hair short, as it was now one less thing for her to get tangled up in

“That—is the last time—you get—to use me—as bait,” she panted. “Because—that sucked.”

“Oh, believe me, it sucked for me too,” Wynonna said. “And now that I know you’re not going to die—” she punched Nicole solidly in the shoulder. “That’s for being stupid and taking your role as bait too far.” Nicole groaned at the added pain and rubbed the spot Wynonna punched.

“Won’t be doing that again anytime soon,” she reassured. “I’ll stick to being the getaway driver.”

“Not right now you’re not. I’m driving you to the hospital, dude.”

“Noooo,” Nicole moaned. It would be her third time in the hospital since coming to Purgatory, and since she’d been here less than five months that was unacceptable. “‘M fine.” Wynonna shrugged.

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d go for that. Can you sit up? Let me help.” With Wynonna’s guidance Nicole managed to haul herself into a sitting position. “How come you always get so beat up, huh? Choking you wasn’t the only thing that revenant did, by the looks of your face. Your good looks come at the cost of bad luck?” 

Nicole’s hand flew to her face, glove brushing against several deep cuts on her cheek. She guessed that’s what she deserved for letting herself get thrown through a window. Her glove came away shining with her own blood, and she took a moment to be glad that it was black and wouldn’t stain.

She didn’t even notice the pain from her other injuries over the line of fire across her neck until she touched them. Her face and ribs ached. Three weeks wasn’t very long to heal from being shot, especially when she was being kicked around by demons in the meantime. 

“Maybe it has something to do with fighting supernatural creatures while being only human,” she said. Though her lungs were feeling better by the second, her other injuries were definitely smarting, and it made her sassy. Wynonna rolled her eyes.

“Why are you always like this. Come on, Officer Smartass. Let’s go.” She dragged Nicole to her feet and threw her arm over her shoulders, supporting her weight as they headed back to the truck. Nicole almost passed out as the movements stretched her torso the wrong way.

“Hey, Wynonna,” Nicole said as Wynonna got her into the cab. Her head lolled back against the headrest, but she did her best to look at her companion. “It was a dead end. I’m sorry.” Wynonna’s gaze hardened.

“You should be sorry for almost getting dead. Not for that.” She slammed the door and marched around to the drivers side, changing the subject as she clambered in. “We’ll get you back to the station and have Jeremy take a look at you. I hope Nedley’s not there, I really don’t want to deal with him yelling at me for putting his best deputy on the line.” 

Nicole chuckled weakly at that. Nedley was rather lenient when it came to letting her tag along with Black Badge as a police liaison, but he was insanely protective of all his officers. Especially with all the crazy, unexplainable, dangerous shit that was happening lately.

“I think you can handle him,” Nicole said. Wynonna’s lips twitched up in a brief smile.

“As long as I bring you back alive I can.” She started the car, and Nicole shivered when the vents blew cool air on her. She waited for the truck to warm up rather than shut them. 

“When we get back there’s going to be so much paperwork waiting for us,” Nicole said, suddenly dreading their return.

“Shhh. For now just...bask in victory.” Wynonna reached over to cover Nicole’s eyes with one hand. “Paperwork is a problem for future us.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

**January 13; 21:20**

“You’re lucky you don’t need stitches,” Jeremy said as he made a grab for the first aid kit. “I’m definitely not qualified to give those.”

Nicole groaned. It was bad enough that Dolls sat her down the instant Wynonna hauled her through the door for an examination of her injuries. It was worse because it prevented her from adding anything to the report Wynonna was practically spitting out.

“This might sting a little,” Jeremy warned as he approached Nicole’s face with a gauze pad. He dabbed her cheek and it was all she could do not to flinch away. “Sorry. I don’t mind dead things, but living specimens—euch.” He shivered, and the movement made him blot at her cheek a little too hard. Nicole growled.

“Give me that.” She snatched the gauze from his hand. It was slightly damp with antiseptic, and despite her hopes didn’t sting any less when she held it to her own wounds.

“Right, okay.” He stepped back, his hands held up in a placating gesture. Nicole sighed. She felt bad about snapping at Jeremy when he was only trying to help, but it was difficult to care too much with everything that was happening around them. Both the Waverly situation, as they had taken to calling it, and the constant arguing between Wynonna and Dolls.

“Are you kidding me right now? She hasn’t been spotted for weeks and you want us to ‘start focusing on other priorities?’ That’s such bullshit!” Wynonna snarled in Dolls’ face. “We need to be looking harder than ever.”

“Trust me, we’re doing everything we can.” Dolls didn’t back down, but his voice was tired, as he’d been repeating the same argument for the last few minutes. It was a miracle Wynonna hadn’t stormed off already. “Eliza is out there exhausting her contacts for any explanation and you’re running on coffee and redbull tearing Purgatory apart by it’s demons. But while we were busy looking for Waverly something bigger woke up because we were otherwise occupied.”

“Waverly  _ is  _ something bigger. That thing that took her is the big bad we’re supposed to be fighting,” Wynonna said. “But you don’t care. As soon as Doc and Chemi-tits got you your medicine, you stopped caring about everything but your job.”

“ _ Wynonna _ .” Dolls growled. He took a step forward, and Wynonna actually backed away. “I care about Waverly almost as much as you do. It is  _ killing _ me not to have her here, and not just because she’s our best researcher. But don’t you think this sudden lack of demonic activity is concerning? That was the first revenant you put down in almost two weeks.” Wynonna fumed silently so that Nicole could practically see the steam shooting from her ears. She was surprised she didn’t have a response.

“Actually, uh, I have a theory about that,” Jeremy interceded. Dolls and Wynonna both rounded on him so that he physically gulped. “Um, if you promise you won’t be mad at me. I mean, I’m just the messenger. Or, the scientist?”

“Jeremy,” Dolls said, fixing him with a  _ not now _ stare.

“Right. So, remember how Gooverly took control of all those demons back at Black Badge?” 

“Gooverly?” Wynonna asked, her face a spectacle of indignation. Nicole shared the sentiment.

“Cause of the goo,” Jeremy pointed to his eye and traced a line down his cheek, “and the fact that it’s Waverly. But not Waverly. Hence, Gooverly.”

“None of us are calling her that,” 

“We’re not using that name,” Wynonna and Dolls said at the same time. They exchanged a look, but before they could argue or agree or start making out Nicole interrupted.

“Get to the point,” she said.

“I think it’s amassing an army,” Jeremy said, surprisingly succinct. Nicole sat dumbly, not making a sound and waiting for someone else to call out how crazy that sounded. It was crazy, wasn’t it?

“There haven’t been any reported sightings of her in two and a half weeks,” Dolls said deliberately, holding his chin with his right hand and grabbing his right elbow with his left hand. “She could be hiding away, waiting to strike.” He let go of his chin to gesture with his hand as he spoke.

“This is Waverly we’re talking about. You know, she did help us escape Black Badge. Maybe she’s off fighting the demon somewhere it can’t hurt anyone,” Wynonna suggested. 

“As much as I’d like to believe that, it seems too optimistic. We have literally no idea what she’s dealing with, because black eyes and covered in goo describes at least two dozen kinds of demons I know of,” Dolls said. “And I know a lot of demons.”

“Well all that knowledge is useless, since you’re only using it to show off.” The fire was back in Wynonna’s voice, and Nicole knew another yelling match was about to break out.

“Guys!” She interceded before Dolls could respond to the accusations. “Fighting isn’t going to help anything. In fact, it’s actually hurting us because we can’t work as a team.” She glared at Dolls and Wynonna. “The only way we’re going to be able to fight this thing is together.” Maybe she was still bitter from months of being left out of the loop, but Nicole felt like she had a point there. 

On top of the loss of Waverly, there were just too many divisions for them to work in any kind of efficient manner. Eliza—new to the team though she was—barely made an appearance in Purgatory, too busy running around searching for answers. Rosita was a wildcard; though she did help make medicine for Dolls all Nicole knew of her was that she owed allegiance to Doc alone, who began to distance himself from the team as soon as Dolls was back into fighting shape. And Jeremy walked on eggshells, terrified that if he made one wrong move Wynonna would throw him down Doc’s well. 

“Nicole, now is not the time for you to be a Hallmark card,” Wynonna said, obviously not seeing what Nicole did. Which would make sense, seeing as Wynonna was the worst of them all. If she was cranky on a regular day, stressed out from demon fighting, worrying about her sister, and plagued by PTSD she was a nightmare. She had her good moments, like when she pulled Nicole from the snow earlier that day, but they were almost completely overshadowed by her constant lone wolfing, irritability, and generally clashing with everyone on her side.

Dolls apparently agreed with Nicole’s evaluation. “That’s enough,” he growled. Nicole took a moment to thank him in her head before Wynonna whipped around to glare at him. But before she could say anything Dolls continued. “Officer Haught has a point, and you can’t see it because you’re in too much pain to listen to reason.”

“Hmm, Dolls, I can’t imagine why that would be,” Wynonna said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “Maybe it’s because I lost my entire remaining family within twenty four hours, and nothing I do seems to get me any closer to rescuing my sister, who by the way is  _ possessed _ . Maybe I’m stressed about that. Maybe it’s because without Waverly I'm nothing.”

“You know that’s not true,” Nicole protested. Wynonna rounded on her next.

“Oh yeah? If she was here we wouldn’t be floundering the way we are. She would have researched the shit out of whatever it is we’re fighting so we could at least stand a chance. We would have put down at least twice as many revenants, because I am a shit heir without her. 

“And you wouldn’t have gotten thrown threw a damn window, or almost strangled by a demon, because as much as you like to pretend you’re above all this pain I _know_ you’re as much of a mess as I am and it makes you reckless.” Nicole was too stunned to answer before Dolls stepped in, his voice much calmer all of a sudden.

“We’re not getting anywhere, and it's getting late. We’ve all had a long day, so let’s go home, decompress, and come back in the morning to discuss our options. Sound fair?” He sent a pointed look at Wynonna, who rolled her eyes and scoffed but didn’t refute him. Instead she snatched her coat off the back of a chair and stormed out of the room, not sparing her co workers a second glance. 

It was only when the door slammed shut behind her retreating form that Nicole finally managed to shake off the dark cloud Wynonna’s words left behind. They were all true of course, but that didn’t stop Nicole from resenting the facts.

“You should head out too,” Dolls said to Nicole. “I’ll take care of the paperwork.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, averting her gaze towards her toes. She tossed the gauze onto the metal tray of medical instruments. She barely remembered she was still holding it.

“Nicole,” Dolls spoke up, stopping her halfway through the door. He fumbled awkwardly with his hands for a moment, finally sticking them in his pockets. “You know she didn’t mean any of that maliciously.” Nicole smiled tensely.

“I can’t be the only one dropping truth bombs,” she said, trying to make light of the situation. Instead of responding, Dolls silently let her walk out the door. Her shift was over, anyway, and she had an unopened bottle of wine waiting for her at home. A housewarming present that had been collecting dust since she moved in. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.

**January 13; 22:00**

Nicole probably shouldn’t have opened the door after two glasses of wine, but she wasn’t drinking because it helped her make good decisions. Recently, being sober was just too painful, and Nicole rarely gave in to drink in the first place before...recent events. If her new habits made her too much like Wynonna, so be it. 

Speak of the devil, she was the one at Nicole’s door. Wynonna stood uncomfortably on the porch, whiskey clutched in one hand and the other resting on Peacemaker at her hip. When Nicole opened the door she didn’t speak, instead choosing to wave the whiskey enticingly in the air. Nicole sighed and stepped out of the doorway to let Wynonna into her apartment, mostly because it was well below freezing and she was shivering mere moments after opening the door. Also, she didn’t want to accidentally let her cat out this late.

“I see you’ve started without me,” Wynonna said, raising an eyebrow at the open bottle of wine on Nicole’s kitchen table.

“If you’re here to start another fight, you can give me your booze and leave.” Curse alcohol. It always made her inarticulate, unable to form words the way she wanted to around a cotton tongue.

“My booze is a peace offering. Although, I don’t really feel like drinking.” Wynonna set the bottle down on the table with a thunk before collapsing into a chair. Nicole took the other one, spinning it around so she could be closer to Wynonna.

“Wynonna Earp doesn’t feel like drinking. It must be a cold day in Purgatory.” Wynonna chuckled at the joke.

“Haven’t you heard? This kind of weather is absolutely balmy this time of year.” She grew quiet, and Nicole worried when the joking atmosphere evaporated. “Listen, I know I’ve been a dick recently, and totally unfair to you and the team. I just…” she rubbed a hand over her face, slouching further into her chair. “I’m not so great at this feelings thing.” Her voice sounded like it was this close to breaking.

“Who is?” Nicole asked, trying to put her at ease.

“You are.” Nicole scoffed. “You  _ are _ . You’re all...bumper sticker aphorisms and mature at dealing with grief and shit.”

“You call this mature?” She gestured to her empty cup. Yes, she had been drinking wine out of a plastic dinner cup. She was worried she might forget herself and smash anything as fragile as glass.

“Alright, if you’re going to be an asshole...” Wynonna made to stand up but Nicole latched onto her sleeve to keep her in her seat.

“If you get to be an asshole then so do I.”

“Jesus, that’s why I came over,” Wynonna groaned, shaking her hands in the air in frustration. “I’m trying to...apologize.” She choked on the last word, and Nicole lost her grip in shock.

“It  _ is  _ a cold day in Purgatory,” she said before standing up abruptly.

“Hey, you can’t not accept it. That’s not how this works,” Wynonna said. “You’re supposed to be all noble and shit; right now you’re throwing me off my game big time.” Nicole glanced over her shoulder, having walked over to the cupboard. She grabbed a cup identical to the one she was drinking out of and waved it in Wynonna’s direction.

“Apology accepted,” she said, and Wynonna let out a heavy sigh of relief. “I don’t drink with people I’m mad at.”

“In that case, I don’t think there’s a person on Earth you wouldn’t drink with,” Wynonna said. Nicole set the glass in front of her and sat down again, and Wynonna reached for the whiskey she brought. However, she hesitated, her hand hovering inches away from the bottle.

“You know what? In the spirit of maturity,” she reached past the whiskey for the wine and poured herself a full glass.

“Pun intended?” Nicole asked. Wynonna paused with the glass halfway to her lips.

“God dammit, Haught,” she said before knocking back the glass. Nicole raised an eyebrow as her throat bobbed and she chugged the whole thing. 

When all the wine was gone, Wynonna set the glass back on the table, but kept her head back. She stared at the ceiling, not saying a word. Nicole let the silence stretch on until Wynonna finally spoke up.

“I’m glad you weren’t there that day,” she said, levelling her gaze at Nicole. “At Black Badge. I’m glad you didn’t have to see her being all scary.”

“Me too,” Nicole admitted. “I can’t even reconcile what you told me with the Waverly that I know, and I can’t imagine how horrible it must have been to witness.”

“When I close my eyes,” Wynonna said, “I can still see her tearing Lucado limb from limb. She made a demon take a bullet for her. A  _ lot  _ of bullets. It didn’t even hesitate to jump in front of her. That’s just…” she pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long breath.

“It’s hardest not knowing if she’s okay,” Nicole said. Wynonna’s hand fell from her nose.

“That’s exactly it,” she said. “Waverly is...well she’s Waverly. She’s tougher that she looks, and I’ll admit kind of a badass, but that thing is—why are you laughing?”

“I’m sorry,” Nicole snorted. “It’s just, you called Waverly a badass.”

“Yeah. She is. You got a problem with that?”

“Woah, no.” Nicole held up her hands defensively. “It’s kind of one of my favorite thing about her. I was just...she can be very aggressive, okay?” Wynonna threw up her hands to cover her ears.

“Nicole! That’s my baby sister you’re talking about.” Nicole flushed when she realized what Wynonna was suggesting.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she said, but she couldn’t help but recall the way Waverly ambushed her in Nedley’s office, and at the homestead, and okay maybe Wynonna had a point.

“Well good. Because you’re not Champ Hardy,” Wynonna said decidedly, her hands falling from her ears. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that Wynonna was not a mind reader “I am very jealous you got to punch him in the face, by the way.” Nicole flexed her hand, feeling the phantom pain from when she punched Champ.

“Trust me, you have no idea how good that felt,” she said.

“Probably about as good as threatening him with a switchblade,” Wynonna said. Nicole’s mouth dropped open and she scoffed, impressed.

“As an officer of the law, you probably shouldn’t have told me that. But it does sound pretty awesome,” she said.

“It was. Until Waverly shot at me with a shotgun.”

“No way!”

“I swear! She didn’t know it was me, but even if she did she still probably would have tried to shoot me,” Wynonna chuckled.

“Waverly and her shotguns,” Nicole said fondly.

“A match made in heaven,” Wynonna said. “Almost as good as you and her.” Nicole felt a lump form in her throat, and she quickly swallowed it.

“That—that means a lot,” she choked out. Wynonna tilted her glass to inspect the inside of it.

“Yeah, well, don’t prove me wrong. Because she has a shotgun and I have Peacemaker, so.”

“Believe me, I’d shoot myself before I intentionally hurt her,” Nicole said. But even as she spoke the words, a stab of guilt hit her in the chest. There were still...things she hadn’t told her. Things she was going to tell her, but didn’t get around to before Waverly was taken. 

But there was no way she would tell Wynonna before she told Waverly, which meant that they were going to get her back as soon as possible. Nicole would give anything to ensure it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks so much for reading! I've got the next two chapters pretty much complete, so those'll be up soon. I have a pretty good idea of where I'm going with this, so it's probably going to be about sixish chapters. Hit me up with your guesses about how it's going to end >:)


	3. Discovery

**January 14; 9:58**

Nicole woke with her cheek pressed to the linoleum of her kitchen floor. She groaned as she peeled herself out of a puddle of her own drool. She was thankful she didn’t sleep on the cheek that was sliced to ribbons, although her cuts stung like a bitch when she opened her jaw to work the stiffness out of it. The band-aids she slapped on the worst of it pulled at her skin uncomfortably and she quickly gave up the action.

Nicole looked around blearily and tried to remember what happened the night before. At first, she thought she may have drunk too much, but realized she was merely drowsy when she took in the unopened bottle of whiskey and the half-empty bottle of wine. She and Wynonna only had three glasses of wine between them before apparently passing out on the floor of her kitchen. So, if that was true, then where was Wynonna?

The sound of retching jerked Nicole out of her thoughts, reminding her of what woke her up in the first place. She tried to lift herself off the floor, her battered body screaming in protest. Only with the help of the counter did Nicole manage to get herself upright.

She walked cautiously down the hall, her hand automatically massaging her neck, both to soothe the crick she had from sleeping on her face and the still aching line from being on the wrong end of a garrote. The retching was coming from her bathroom, and she pawed at the door until it swung open.

Wynonna was curled around her toilet, still fully dressed and hugging it like it was the only thing keeping her tethered to the Earth. She looked up miserably when the door bumped against her leg. Nicole could barely reconcile the pitiful creature in front of her with the badass Wynonna she knew.

“Thank you for having the cleanest toilet I’ve ever puked in,” Wynonna said. Nicole didn’t even want to think about the kinds of toilets Wynonna had probably made acquaintance with.

“Really? That’s the first thing you’re going to say to me right now?” Nicole asked. Wynonna held up a finger in reply before leaning over the bowl and dry heaving for a solid minute. Nicole screwed up her eyes, wanting to look away but not wanting to miss it if Wynonna actually heaved up her stomach because she would literally do anything to prevent that if she could.

“The second thing is what the hell did you put in my wine?” Wynonna asked when the heaving settled down. She reached for the toilet handle.

“A better question is how much of that whiskey did you drink after I passed out?” The night was slowly coming back to Nicole. She remembered migrating to the floor to continue a heart to heart, crying a lot, then falling asleep with Wynonna halfway in her lap.

“None,” Wynonna moaned. She gagged and slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh God, not again.” Nicole finally succumbed to the urge to look away.

“Can I get you anything? Water? A mint?” She asked, her eyes firmly fixed on a picture of her sister, brother-in-law, and nephews that hung on the wall next to the bathroom door. This was a nightmare. Nicole was never any help when her nephews were sick

“Just get your service weapon and put me out of my misery,” Wynonna said. Nicole stared at her, wondering if she was serious. “Go!” Nicole scurried away from the bathroom.

“I’m not going to shoot you!”

“Then you’re the cruelest woman alive and I hate you more than I hate the idea of Bobo del Ray in nothing but his coat and a thong.”

“Where the hell have you seen _that_?!”

“It came from my sick and twisted mind!”

“Oh God, I did not need to know that.”

**January 14; 11:14**

“How you feeling bud?” Nicole asked, tentatively peeking her head into her bathroom. She plugged her nose with two fingers, not even wanting to think about how it might have smelled.

“Like I just puked for an hour,” Wynonna said dryly. She migrated from hugging the toilet to lying flat on her stomach, her face pressed against the cool tile she shoved Nicole’s bathroom rug aside to access. Calamity Jane regarded her from the edge of the tub, having been Wynonna’s babysitter since Wynonna cussed Nicole out too badly for her to stick around any longer. She was a cat and therefore couldn’t understand the horrible language Wynonna slung like a preschooler did with mud. Nicole didn’t feel too bad about abandoning her to Wynonna’s wrath.

Plus, if anyone had experience with vomit, it was long-haired Calamity. Nicole thought she left Wynonna in pretty good...paws.

“Can you make it to the couch?” Nicole tried again. Wynonna tilted her head slightly in order to look at Nicole incredulously. The effect was somewhat mitigated by her position.

“Can you carry me there? Because unless you can I’m staying right here.” Nicole frowned, regarding her tiny bathroom and all the horrible things that could go wrong if she tried to maneuver Wynonna in any way.

“What do you think, Calamity?” She asked her cat. Calamity Jane tilted her head, mruped, then hopped off the edge of the tub and sauntered out of the bathroom. “Well, you’re a big help.”

“Do you always talk to your cat like she’s a person? You need a girlfriend, dude,” Wynonna said.

“I have a girlfriend,” Nicole said. “She’s just not here to help me get your hungover ass off this floor.”

“I had _one_ glass of wine!” Wynonna protested, rolling onto her side to better glare at Nicole. It was marginally more intimidating. “I am _not_ hungover. Besides, I never barf unless there’s tequila involved. And even then, it has to be like, a whole bottle.”

“Did you eat something funny then?” Nicole said, picking her way over to her friend. God, she was going to have to bleach this whole room if she ever wanted to use it again.

“I only ate a stack of pancakes and three packs of gushers yesterday,” Wynonna said.

“We really have to supplement your diet with some vegetables one of these days,” Nicole said. Despite her distaste for Wynonna’s eating habits, she had to admit that it didn’t sound like something that would make her so sick.

She pondered the dilemma as she dragged Wynonna to her couch. It was a miracle she even got her off the bathroom floor with neither of them any worse for wear, although Wynonna looked a little greener when she was vertical than Nicole would have liked. After dumping Wynonna in her living room and bringing out a glass of water along with the largest bowl she had—just in case—Nicole plopped into her armchair.

She wracked her memory for any idea of what might be wrong with Wynonna, going so far as thinking back to when Shae used to talk about work sometimes. But Nicole was no doctor, and eventually pulled out her phone to do some Googling. She was thankful she had a charge even though she didn’t plug it in last night.

“Have you been having irregular bowel movements?” Nicole spoke up after she visited a few websites, slouched so low her chin rested on her chest and her phone on her stomach.

“Look, Haught, we’re pretty good friends but I don’t think we’re that close,” Wynonna said.

“I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. Just answer the question.” Wynonna groaned.

“No, I haven’t had any...irregular bowel movements.”

“Taken a lot of medication? Feel like you have the flu?”

“Nope.” Wynonna shifted on the couch so she was laying on her side and facing Nicole.

“Well, one of the reasons WebMD is telling me is emotional stress, which I think we’ve established is something bothering both of us.” Wynonna laughed.

“WebMD? You sound like…” she trailed off, unable to complete her sentence. Nicole had a pretty good idea where she was going with it, especially when she said, “ah, there’s the emotional stress rearing its ugly head.” Nicole cleared her throat.

“Head trauma? Did you knock yourself out last night?”

“Nicole, I’ve literally done nothing in the past twelve hours. I don’t know what you’re expecting to find, but-”

“What about sex?” Nicole blurted out. Wynonna shut up immediately.

“I’ve had sex before, yeah,” she said slowly.

“No, I mean,” she paused to take a calming breath, “unprotected sex.” She could barely stand to look at Wynonna. It was one of the first things she found, but she had to check every other possibility or Wynonna would kill her. “I’m not judging you or anything I just—”

“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, leave.” Wynonna pointed over her shoulder to the door. Nicole refrained from indicating that this was her apartment. Instead, she sighed heavily before hauling herself out of her chair and grabbing her keys and wallet from the coffee table.

“I’ll be back. Not that I think you can, but don’t go anywhere,” she said, still avoiding looking Wynonna in the eye.

“Nicole, it’s impossible. I’m not…” Wynonna trailed off, but Nicole stopped in her tracks.

“Yes or no you’ve had unprotected sex in the past couple months.” She finally dredged up the courage to stare Wynonna down. Wynonna looked away first and it was the only answer Nicole needed.

“You are staying on this couch while I walk down the block to the corner store, and you are not allowed to drink any alcohol until we rule it out. I will kick your ass if you do.” She made an _I’m watching you_ sign with two fingers and stuck around just long enough to watch Wynonna grumpily pull a blanket up to her chin. She could feel Wynonna’s burning glare on her way out, and for the first time in a long time prayed that she was very very wrong.

**January 14; 11:56**

“FUCK!” Nicole jumped away from the bathroom door at the expletive. She didn’t have to have her ear pressed to the door to hear it or any of the others that followed. “Fuck! Fuck! Shit, fuck, son of a bitch, bullshit fucker god damned pissing SHIT!” She heard a dull smack before the sound of Wynonna hyperventilating reached her.

“Wynonna?” Nicole jiggled the handle of the door, even though she knew it was locked. “Wynonna open the door.”

“FUCK!” Wynonna screamed in response. Nicole heard something smash, and if she wasn’t panicking before she sure was now. She twisted the door handle harder.

“Wynonna, I swear if you don’t open this door I will break it down. I don’t care that it’s my door, just—” the door swung open when Nicole was halfway through her threat to reveal Wynonna, who looked even more haggard than she did before she locked herself in the bathroom if that was even possible.

In one hand, she clutched the cursed test, the other hung limply at her side and was dripping blood on the floor. Nicole looked past her into the bathroom to that her mirror was smashed. Wynonna punching it was probably the shattering sound she heard.

But she wasn’t worried about doors or mirrors right now. Not when Wynonna was struggling to breathe, seeming like she was going to shatter worse than the mirror was if Nicole didn’t do something.

“It—” Wynonna choked on her next word. “I—this can’t—”

“Hey,” Nicole said softly, extending one hand cautiously toward Wynonna, ready for her to flinch away or react violently. She did neither and instead let Nicole grab her shoulder. “Let’s take care of that hand, yeah?” Wynonna barely reacted. Instead, she let Nicole guide her into the kitchen. She sat her down at the table and retrieved her first aid kit from underneath the sink.

Wynonna was perfectly silent while Nicole examined her hand for shards of the mirror, using the first aid tweezers to pick out any she found. She barely flinched when Nicole drenched her wound with antiseptic, or when she wound enough bandages around it for her to look like she was wearing a boxing glove. It was only once Nicole set her hand down on the table several minutes later did she speak up.

“What the hell am I going to do?” She asked. Nicole stayed silent.

“You don’t have to do anything right now,” she said. Wynonna refused to look her in the eye even though Nicole couldn’t move her gaze from her face. She felt incredibly calm, which was probably a good thing seeing as Wynonna was one step away from a total meltdown.

“But I will eventually, right?” Wynonna’s voice was flat and lifeless. The only reason Nicole knew exactly what she was feeling under the surface was that her first mini meltdown gave her some idea. “This can’t be happening. Not now.” Nicole could only grimace in response.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but it _will_ be okay,” she said eventually. Wynonna finally looked at her.

“How? With everything that’s going on, how can _this_ be okay?” Nicole didn’t have an answer.

Apparently, her cell phone did. It’s ringing made her jump. Wynonna stayed perfectly motionless, still in shock perhaps. Nicole scrambled to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Haught!” Dolls yelled into the phone over the sound of gunshots and breaking objects. “We need you, now! Find Wynonna—she’s not answering her phone—and get down to the station ASAP. This is life or death.”

“What’s the situation?” She asked.

“Just get here!” He hung up before she could ask any more questions.

“I heard,” Wynonna said when Nicole glanced at her. “Just let me grab Peacemaker and we can go.” She stood up and made for the bathroom.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“If you’re referring to my _condition_ I swear—”

“I’m talking about your emotional and mental state,” Nicole interrupted. Wynonna paused outside the bathroom.

“I... need to shoot something,” she said before ducking out of sight.

Nicole sighed but put her worries out of her mind as she went for her service weapon, checking to see if it was loaded. She was still in her uniform—having never changed out of it last night or this morning—but was missing her holster. It was on the shelf where she always left it, and Nicole took a moment to thank her past self for being so consistent.

She waited for Wynonna by the front door, doing her best to smooth out the wrinkles in her shirt to no avail. Whatever, it wasn’t like the motion was meant to do anything but waste a few seconds as she waited. Wynonna emerged from the bathroom moments later, her hand on Peacemaker’s grip.

“Let’s go kill some demons,” she said, marching toward the door.

Nicole’s ringtone stopped her in her tracks. She answered it immediately, especially when she saw it was from Dolls.

“Haught,” he greeted. “This is a code black.” Nicole’s heart sank to her toes at his words, and even further as he continued talking. “Gooverly just attacked the station, but she left suddenly and we don’t know why. It definitely wasn’t because we fought her off. She destroyed us. We have officers and agents down, unsure about casualties. You have to find Wynonna and get somewhere safe right now, she’s probably coming—”

“It’s too late,” Nicole said, her voice barely cooperating. As Dolls was speaking she looked through the window next to her door, and looking down the street made her feel worse than the past twelve hours combined did, including Dolls’ phone calls. “She’s here.” She and Wynonna drew their weapons at the same time.

“Run. Run, and don’t look back,” Dolls ordered.

“I’ll try. I’m at home, Wynonna’s with me,” she said.

“I’m coming with whatever backup I can muster, just—” Nicole hung up on him. She didn’t tell him where she was in hope of rescue.

“You have to go,” she said to Wynonna.

“If this is because of that dumb test—”

"She might not know you’re here. You can get away, and you’re her best chance once we figure out how to help her. I’ll be fine, you just have to _go_.” Nicole said. Wynonna paused.

“This self-sacrificing bullshit is really getting old,” she said, but thankfully holstered Peacemaker. “Don’t die, Nicole. Promise.”

“I’ll hold her off as long as I can,” Nicole said. She wasn’t willing to make a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep. Wynonna growled but didn’t waste any more time trying to get Nicole to promise something they both knew she never would.

Nicole turned her attention to the front door just as Wynonna ran out the back. She slowly backed away from it until she bumped into the railing of the staircase. Since she had both a clear line of sight to the door and a path of escape that would draw attention away from Wynonna, Nicole planted her feet at the bottom of the stairs and raised her weapon.

Gooverly knocked down her door moments after Nicole breathed out a long, steadying breath. The blast of cool air that blew into the room made Nicole shiver. Gooverly giggled, one hand extended from the barest push she used to knock her door down. Nicole gulped at the display of strength and the sight of Waverly so un-Waverly like.

She was dressed differently than she was the last time Nicole saw her, in a plain gray dress that reached her knees over leggings tucked into boots. Although the dress was long sleeved, it was still an inadequate outfit for the weather, especially by Waverly’s standards.

But this wasn’t Waverly. Her dripping eyes focused in on Nicole, and her head tilted to the side. For a moment Nicole hoped that Waverly had recognized her and was fighting whatever horror had possessed her. But that hope was killed when Waverly opened her mouth.

“So, you’re the lover,” she said in Waverly’s voice but not Waverly’s intonation. “I’ve heard so much about you. Although you look different from her memories.” Gooverly twirled a strand of hair around her finger to further indicate what she was talking about and smiled cruelly, her features twisting into an expression that was nothing short of pure sadism.

“Stay where you are or I’ll shoot,” Nicole said. Gooverly laughed, the sound sending shivers down Nicole’s spine the same way nails on a chalkboard would.

“Sure, you will. I’d like to see you try to harm me while I'm in this form,” Gooverly goaded. Nicole tensed her finger on the trigger, but when she didn’t pull it Gooverly laughed again. “Predictable.”

Almost before Nicole could blink, Gooverly crossed the room. She snatched Nicole’s gun in one hand and her arm in the other, ripping the weapon from her grasp. She threw it one way and Nicole the other, and Nicole crashed into her coffee table halfway across the room, which collapsed beneath her.

Nicole struggled out of the pile of wood as soon as she got her bearings, pushing aside as much pain as she could. She knew Gooverly let her stand up—she could have been on top of her in a moment—but every moment she could delay was another moment for Wynonna to escape. Nicole raised her fists and stepped out of her former table.

“I must say, I can see why she likes you so much,” Gooverly spoke in her oily voice. She took a few languid steps towards Nicole, who held her ground. “You’ve certainly got spunk. And I’m loving the rugged butch look you have going for you.” She stroked her own cheek to indicate Nicole’s cuts. “It’s really tragic that I’m going to have to kill you if you don’t give me what I want.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Nicole challenged.

“Wynonna Earp,” Gooverly pronounced the name exaggeratedly, whistling through the first syllable and popping the last. “Know where she is?”

“Sorry, but I don’t. And even if I did, I—” she lost her words to the crushing of her windpipe as Gooverly rushed over and slammed her into the far wall by her neck.

Nicole felt the plaster crumble around her, but not all the way, as Gooverly threw her against a stud in the wall. Her body protested being choked for the second time in as many days, and her heart protested the fact that it was Waverly’s forearm that was pressing the life out of her. She couldn’t reconcile what she knew with what she saw; she knew Waverly as the town darling, as her girlfriend, not as the hatred warped monster in front of her.

“Where is the Earp Heir? I already have one of them, and I really want to expand my collection,” Gooverly said.

“Go back to hell,” Nicole choked out. Gooverly smirked.

“Oh, darling. Where I’m from is much, much worse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hellooooo angst! Let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate comments or kudos. Chapter 4 is in the works, not sure when that will be finished. I'll be updating this and other works much more frequently, as I have winter break coming up next week. Hope you enjoyed


	4. Solution

**January 14; 17:34**

The scent of disinfectant tickled Nicole’s nose and made her desperate to sneeze as soon as she came to. She fought the urge, as she was in so much pain already any motion would just make everything worse. Her chest, her back, her everything hurt. She lifted her hand to pinch her nose to fight the sneeze but felt a strange yet sadly familiar resistance from the back of it when she moved.

“I’m in the hospital again, aren’t I?” She wondered aloud, half hoping for no confirmation if only to delay her despair.

“When aren’t you?” Came the reply from somewhere to her left. Nicole slowly peeled her eyes open, cautious since the few times she was hospitalized her eyes were violated by the fluorescent light when she opened them. “You know heroics are supposed to be my thing, right?”

“Wynonna,” Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re alive.”

“Apparently so.” Wynonna waved her hand that wasn’t wrapped in bandages, gesturing vaguely to herself. “I guess I have you to thank for that.” Nicole screwed up her face in confusion.

“I’m alive, too?”

“You have me to thank for that. And, uh, I hope you have insurance or something on your lease,” Wynonna said. Nicole groaned as she recalled what transpired to land her in the hospital.

“What happened?” She asked, dreading the answer. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a few hours. You’re probably going to hurt a lot when the rest of the sedation wears off.” Ah, crap not sedation. If she was hurting this bad on meds, she wasn’t eager for them to wear off. “I was going to follow your advice, but I was halfway across the street when I thought ‘what the hell am I doing?’ And then you started screaming so I ran back inside to find her choking you. At the rate you’re going at I’m starting to think you like it,” Wynonna said. 

“So you fought her?” Nicole asked, ignoring the poor joke.

“Not for long. The cavalry arrived pretty quickly,” she said. She paused, but Nicole could practically feel that she was itching to say something else. 

“She’s not in there. At all.” Wynonna finally spat out.

“I know,” Nicole said. Her voice cracked as she fought back tears, and she looked away from Wynonna. “Um, what about the situation at the station? Dolls said we had people down.” She changed the subject so it was easier to push down her emotions.

“Nedley hit his head pretty badly. Doc’s in almost as bad a shape as you, which honestly I’m a little impressed he managed to get so fucked up. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, that’s about as bad as it was over there,” Wynonna said, seemingly following along with the line of thought that their current line of thinking was too painful. “Dolls is actually outside. It’s like he actually cares about you or something. And Rosita is sitting with Doc in the next room.” 

It wasn’t exactly good news, but at least no one was dead. Nicole scoffed, depressed that not dead was her new threshold for good news. Nothing about this was good.

“What are we going to do now?” She asked, almost dreading the answer.

“You aren’t doing anything for a while. Have you even taken inventory of how badly you’re hurt?” Wynonna asked. “Nedley is going to want you on bedrest for a month.” Nicole groaned. She couldn’t afford to deal with this right now, not when Waverly was possessed and about to level Purgatory any day now.

Speaking of things they couldn’t afford right now, Nicole cast her mind back to what transpired before the attack. She bit her lip—hissing as it provoked the split in it—as she considered whether to bring it up or not.

“What about you?” She finally said. “How are you holding up?”

“Well, I’m glad she hasn’t killed anyone that we know of. And it looks like we might have a lead on whatever it is that’s possessing her, which is more than we’ve had in a month, so.” Wynonna shrugged. Nicole couldn’t help but perk up a bit at the mention of a lead, but that wasn’t the answer she was looking for.

“You know what I mean,” she said. “On top of everything—” Wynonna cleared her throat to interrupt Nicole, who glared at her until she heard a knock on the door. Wynonna must have seen who it was through the window of the room.

“She’s awake,” Wynonna called. Dolls slipped into the room through an impressively tiny opening in the door, considering his bulk. He had three butterfly stitches holding his eyebrow together and there was dried blood on his sweater, but otherwise, he didn’t look any worse for wear, to her relief.

“Offi—um, Nicole,” he said. “I just...you need to be debriefed.” He looked so uncomfortable that Nicole took pity on him. Dolls may be a dick at times, but he was a good man in the end.

“Wynonna’s catching me up,” she said. “As soon as I get an all clear from the doctors I’ll be ready to join Black Badge.”

“Good.” Dolls nodded briskly. “If that’s all…” he trailed off and reached for the door. Nicole nodded and he opened it as slightly as he did coming in. “I’m glad you’re ok. You’re good people, and we need all of those we can get right now,” Dolls said abruptly, not giving her a chance to respond before ducking out the door. Nicole turned back to Wynonna.

“That’s the nicest thing he’s ever said to me,” she said. Wynonna didn’t laugh like she expected her too. Instead, her expression was unreadable as she stared at the closed door Dolls had just exited through. “Ok, what’s going on?”

“Um, Dolls is a lizard,” Wynonna blurted out. Nicole’s eyes bulged out of her head. “Or, maybe a dragon. And so is Eliza.” 

“What?!” Nicole cried

“Yeah, I knew something was up with them but I never thought…” she shook her head. “Lizards, man.” Nicole sank back into her pillows, finally exhausted after the latest bombshell.

“What the fuck?” She asked, not expecting an answer.

“I’ll, um, I was supposed to get the doctor when you woke up. We’ll see about moving you and Doc into a double room so we can debrief everyone at once.” Wynonna stood up and plodded to the door. “Don’t go anywhere,” she said before exiting the room. Nicole sighed as the door shut behind her.

“What the fuck?” She whispered again, staring at the ceiling.

**January 16; 10:36**

Nicole could imagine that Wynonna has been on quite a few people’s shit lists in her life. Hell, she was on more at the moment than Nicole could count on one hand. While she had her own hang-ups on the coarse, rough and tumble Earp Heir before today Nicole never really had a problem with her. 

Today, Wynonna gained herself another spot on someone’s shit list through obstinence, avoidance tactics, and general crankiness. Nicole's shit list, to be specific.

Nicole had to stay in the hospital overnight and most of yesterday, and the whole time no one told her a thing about what was happening. Not that they had much time to spend sitting around. According to Wynonna during the very brief visits she was allowed, everyone at Black Badge, including Rosita, was burning the candle at both ends trying to regroup from the latest attack and prepare for the next one. 

Nicole had a feeling that the length of Wynonna’s visits was less due to Dolls working her to the bone and more her not wanting to talk about anything that could be classified as an emotion.

Now that she was back at the station, Nicole had to admit it did look worse for wear. In two days they’d cleaned up as much of the mess as they could, but evidence of carnage was apparent in missing windows and desks. If Nicole had to hedge a guess, they were destroyed in the attack.

The worst damage was in the Black Badge office. She and Doc were seated in the only two chairs that remained intact. Doc had his leg propped up on a desk, a cast encasing it from just below his knee to his toes. There was dried blood on the floor that hadn’t been scrubbed away completely yet, as well as a pile of rubble swept into the corner to be picked through for salvageable equipment at a later date when they weren’t so pressed for manpower.

“So, are you finally ready to let us in on what’s going on?” Nicole asked Wynonna without any attempt at hiding the venom in the question.

“Just waiting for his lizardness,” Wynonna said, not noticing Dolls walking up behind her. He cleared his throat and Wynonna jumped. She glared at him, likely still pissed that he kept such a big secret even though she believed he trusted her.

“Since we’re all here, we can start,” He said, glancing at the faces around him. Rosita was opening at Shorty’s and keeping her ear to the ground for any more activity of the demonic kind, but she was the only one not present. Jeremy hovered near Doc’s shoulder, and even Eliza was there, looking more haggard than Nicole remembered her being. She showed no sign of exhaustion when she spoke, however.

“Now that we’ve obtained a sample—you’re welcome for that—Jeremy’s working on ways to kill the thing possessing Waverly. In the meantime, the most recent attack has raised questions about her strategy, such as—”

“Hang on a second,” Nicole spoke up. “For those of us who have been kept out of the loop these past few days, what sample?” Eliza glared at her, but Nicole was tired of accepting excuses. Luckily, it was a sore topic for Wynonna, who would bemoan such things at any opportunity.

“The Creature from the Black Lagoon here bit off Waverly’s hand,” she spat. And Nicole thought Eliza’s glare was chilly. It was a summer breeze compared to the look Wynonna had on her face.

“Wait, what?” Nicole exclaimed after processing Wynonna’s words. “You  _ bit _ off her hand?”

“It grew back. I don’t see the problem,” Eliza said, ignoring Nicole.

“The problem is that you didn’t  _ know  _ it would grow back,” Wynonna growled.

“I’m sorry I asked,” Nicole muttered, sharing a look with Doc, who was being as ignored as she was. It probably had something to do with both of them being below eye level.

“Women.” Doc rolled his eyes. On a regular day, Nicole would have been offended on behalf of her gender, but right now she was inclined to agree with him as Eliza and Wynonna spiraled into yet another argument.

“Everyone,  _ please _ ,” Dolls yelled over the fighting. He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “This is a tactical meeting, not a moral debate.” Wynonna and Eliza quieted their words but not their glares, which was about as much as anyone could ask for. “Thank you. Now, we’re here to discuss the reason Gooverly attacked without any other demons under her control and if that means we have to reclassify our knowledge of her powers, as well as put a plan in place for exorcising it because we won’t survive if she attacks again.”

“I don’t see why we can’t just drive a stake through her heart,” Eliza said.

“Because it’s Waverly!” Nicole protested.

“She’s not a vampire,” Wynonna scoffed. Eliza shrugged.

“A stake in the heart will kill most things. Vampires aren’t special,” she said, making Nicole wonder just how many vampires Eliza had encountered.

“I think it’s safe to say that she was only testing us,” Jeremy spoke up. “We have multiple eyewitness accounts to her ability to control demons, and my study of the...hand...sample...thing is only further confirming it as well as her other powers.”

“How close are you to finding an exorcism that will work on it?” Dolls asked.

“Very. And I think I have an idea of what it’s called,” Jeremy said. “You might recognize it. Mictian.” Dolls eyes widened imperceptibly and his shoulders stiffened. Nicole had never seen Dolls so startled before.

“It can’t be,” Eliza said. She was more visibly affected than Dolls, though not by much.

“It fits though,” Dolls said through gritted teeth.

“What’s McShit?” Wynonna asked.

“Mictian. It’s a demon that’s been following us since Kabul,” Dolls explained. “It fuses with its host and controls them, spreading through entire populations until they’re under its control.”

“If it’s fused with Waverly, will we even be able to exorcise it?” Nicole questioned.

“Depending on how complete the fusion is, yes. It hasn’t spread yet, which means Waverly is still fighting it. But she won’t be able to hold out for much longer. It’s incredible she has for this long.” Dolls shook his head.

“Dolls, you were present when that thing stormed our castle. I sensed neither hide nor hair from Waverly other than her appearance,” Doc said. “And you say she’s still in there, fighting this evil?”

“It has to have complete control to spread, and we haven’t seen any evidence of that yet,” Eliza said. “Have we?” She directed the question to Jeremy.

“Nope. No missing persons, no mysterious goo,” he said. “But it’s still going to take a powerful exorcism to sever their bond, and we have to do it quickly.”

“Well, obviously,” Wynonna scoffed.

“No, I mean if we don’t do it soon Waverly will be gone. She’s already held out longer than anyone I’ve studied before. I have no idea how much more time she has left,” Jeremy said matter of factly. An eerie silence fell over the group.

“Well, that’s ominous,” Eliza said, shrugging slightly as she refused to meet anyone’s gaze. She wasn’t the only person avoiding eye contact. Everyone seemed to have a better place to look than at each other, all uncomfortable with the implication of what they would have to do if they failed.

“Then we better come up with a kick-ass plan,” Wynonna said, breaking the silence. “What do you have, Jeremy?

**January 16; 17:47**

“Are you sure Mictian will even be able to step foot on the Homestead?” Nicole asked as she picked her way over the disaster that was Wynonna’s front yard.

“Where do you think all this junk came from? It went here to find me before it went to Black Badge,” Wynonna said. “Now come on, the sooner we get these wards up the sooner we can start luring it out.” She marched to the barn, hauling a sealed paint can and a crowbar along with her. Nicole toted paintbrushes and the paper where Dolls had carefully illustrated the warding symbols for them. 

They had split into groups in order to maximize efficiency. Jeremy and Dolls were back at the police station synthesizing a concoction that Jeremy promised would “pop Mictian from its host like Waverly was a bottle of champagne and it was the cork.” Which was a weird simile, but as long as it worked Nicole wasn’t going to complain.

Nicole and Wynonna were sent to the Homestead to prepare the barn for an exorcism and possible make-shift prison in case they couldn’t kill Mictian right away. Hence the paint can full of mixed chicken and snake blood, which Dolls just happened to have on hand. Because it was Dolls. Nicole was not looking forward to opening that. She was just glad she wouldn’t have to live with the smell of rotting blood, however temporary.

Meanwhile, they had given the most dangerous task to Dolls and Eliza, which was baiting Gooverly. They had narrowed her possible hideouts down to a few places on the outskirts of Purgatory and were waiting in Dolls’ truck for the go-ahead to start hunting. 

Wynonna hadn’t exactly been pleased with that, given that Eliza had already tried to maim her sister once, but Dolls insisted that she would be in a much better position to actually capture Gooverly if she was waiting at the bait house. Wynonna had grumbled the whole drive over to the Homestead about Dolls not understanding shit.

Nicole was just happy to be included in the plans, even though her body ached with her every move. Although, she was less happy about the tension in the air between her and Wynonna. 

This was the first time they’d spent any longer than five minutes alone together since the attack and Wynonna’s pregnancy test came back positive. If Nicole wanted to confront her friend about it, now would be the time. She cleared her throat to speak but Wynonna beat her to the punch.

“If you say a word I’m going to drive out of here to trade places with Eliza, Dolls be damned,” she said. Nicole didn’t know how she knew Nicole was about to speak, as her back was turned to her. Maybe it was heir instincts. “I know you’re not going to leave me alone about this, so I’ll speak and you listen, okay?”

“Fine,” Nicole agreed. Wynonna hesitated as if waiting for Nicole to voice more concerns. When she didn’t, the heir spoke.

“Right now my life consists of dealing with the most time-sensitive issues today and worrying about everything else tomorrow,” she said, using the crowbar to lever the lid off the paint can. “Mictian is the most pressing thing happening right now. Everything else can wait. Not forever, but long enough for us to get Waverly back. I promise once we do that I’ll think about...other things. Deal?” 

Nicole bit her lip as she handed a paintbrush to Wynonna. It wasn’t the answer she was hoping for, but it was probably the best she could hope for. Still, she wasn’t going to give Wynonna any room to “forget” any promises.

“If you forget I’m going to bother you until the end of time,” Nicole said. Wynonna scoffed.

“Typical. You just can’t let things lie.” Nicole shot her a look and Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Fine. I accept your terms,” she said with only a slight tone of mockery in her voice.

“Alright, Alicia Florrick. Now let’s get this redecorating finished before Dolls and Eliza freeze out there,” Nicole said, picking up a paintbrush of her own. 

“Dude, you watch the Good Wife?” Wynonna scoffed.

“It’s a good show!” Nicole said defensively.

“Yeah, whatever, old lady,” Wynonna chuckled. Thankfully, she moved on from her teasing right after that.  “According to Dolls, we have to put the symbols—” a crackling voice from the walkie-talkie on Wynonna’s hip interrupted her.

“Nicole, Wynonna, you better have that barn ready,” Dolls panted. “It found us before we could find it, and we’re incoming ahead of schedule. Over.” Wynonna snatched the walkie and held it to her mouth.

“Well stall then! We’re not ready here,” she said, adding after a moment, “over.” She and Nicole exchanged a look before springing into action, drawing the wards as quickly as they could without making any mistakes.

“Copy that. We’ll give you as much time as we can. Over and out.” The static abruptly cut off and Wynonna reattached it to her belt with her free hand.

“I hope you paid attention in art class, Haught,” Wynonna said just as Nicole grimaced at the wobbly line she painted. “Jesus, you can’t do anything straight, can you?” Nicole shot a glare over her shoulder.

“Is now really the time for jokes?” She asked. 

“Absolutely,” Wynonna grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooh the action is winding up! I'm thinking of two or three more chapters after this one. Let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, I didn't think the Gooverly plot had enough angst in it, so I just /had/ to fix that. The next chapter will be coming in the next few days! Please leave a comment if you liked it, or check out my tumblr @thecarlonethatalsowrites to yell at me about this fic


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